Chairman of News Corp., Fox’s parent company, Rupert Murdoch spoke yesterday at a New York media event seemingly confirming the studio would reteam with Sacha Baron Cohen on BORAT TWO. Only problem was the news of a sequel was news to Fox execs and Cohen himself. Cohen’s reps say there is no, nor was there ever, a deal on the table for Cohen to star in a sequel. A Fox spokesman said that they had “casual discussions” about a sequel with Cohen but hardly anything that could be considered a done deal (Murdoch said BORAT TWO would be Cohen’s next film after BRUNO). Even more puzzling was Murdoch’s explanation of why they passed on BRUNO if they were so eager to work with Cohen again. He said the package was too expensive ($42 million paid by Universal) but a BORAT TWO deal, where the character is a proven commodity, would be easily more expensive to put together. Nevermind the logistical trouble in pulling off a sequel when the character became so popular and fooling the public would become near impossible. Cohen’s next film will be SWEENEY TODD with Tim Burton and the actor has been working on BRUNO in the meanwhile.
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